Does Always Thinking About Money Really Make Me Happy?

Today, the golf trophy that I won for placing 2nd on my flight was shipped to me. I was so excited because I have never won anything other than getting certificates and ribbons before so it made me really happy to say the least. My credit card balance, my next paycheck, the stock market tumbling today all did not matter. Being a person that always thinking about money – how to save more, how to earn more, how to accumulate more, this prompted the question “does always thinking about money really make me happy?”

The answer to this question is probably pretty complicated. On the one hand, it stresses me out unnecessarily. I’m certainly not worried about survival since I have a good paying job and have very little expenses so far, creating a sizable positive cash flow every month. If I project my savings rate and investment performance, I will be way ahead of my goal. However, because it seems like I’m very far from my retirement goal (as I’m still young and I just started accumulating wealth), I try to save as much as I can, as early as I can just in case. I’m probably a little too frugal because I’m stressing myself out when I don’t need to be.

On the other hand, my expenses in the future will only go up as I buy a house and start a family. Hopefully, my income will also grow but I shouldn’t count on it growing faster than the rate that my expense will increase. This means that I cannot just project the same savings that I do now; I should plan for the future and start to save as much as I can. There’s no such thing as saving too much right?

Some might think that this is a good problem to have but sometimes having too many choices is not the best for a person’s mind. This will probably be a question that I will ponder again and again through the years. In the meantime, I will be content with my first trophy ever.